Motlop chokes, Saints hold on

St Kilda   8.16 (64) def. Port Adelaide   8.12 (60)

St Kilda have produced another lacklustre display in Launceston, yet still escaped with a four point victory after Port Adelaide's Daniel Motlop missed a shot for goal after the final siren at Aurora Stadium today.

The Power, behind all day, came home like the proverbial steam train in the final five minutes, yet a majestic Motlop mark with five seconds remaining resulted in a badly missed shot from 35 metres, and no doubt a very relieved Grant Thomas.

After struggling to put away Essendon last week, the Saints looked sluggish again down the stretch, and will count themselves extremely fortunate to have gotten the four points, despite what their fans will tell you about the club being back on track in 2006.

Both teams welcomed back important players for the clash - perhaps St Kilda's last in Tasmania - with Port welcoming back Chad Cornes from a punctured lung, while its opposition brought back best and fairest winner Steven Baker. The Power also handed debuts to Alipate Carlisle and former Lion Tom Logan, but were without skipper Warren Tredrea through injury.

It was a game where possessions didn't mean a whole lot, with a lot of sideways movement and short possession football being played. Nick Dal Santo was his usual damaging self in the middle, while Jason Gram played perhaps his best game at senior level, rebounding the ball through the centre on numerous occasions. Fraser Gehrig booted three, while Nick Riewoldt provided a strong presence all day and should have produced a better return than his two majors, and Max Hudgton was tight all day on Motlop before that final grab.

For the Power, Shaun Burgoyne provided most of their attacking impetus, though hardly surprising as he and Dal Santo played wide of each other for most of the game. Logan did some nice things on debut, Brendan Lade continued his stellar season with 33 hitouts, and the Cornes brothers both picked up their usual swag of possessions.

The game started like two boxers sparring in their corners without any real punches being thrown, as both sides were given ample room to play the ball around defensive zones, but not nearly as much room through the centre of the ground. Indeed, it was ten minutes in before the contest saw its first major, kicked by Riewoldt after a sizzling Dal Santo pass. Fraser Gehrig and Steven Milne added goals of their own soon after, as Port registered it's fourth scoreless quarter of the season.

Riewoldt opened up the second with a strong mark and goal, his second, and it took nearly 10 minutes of the period before the Power got themselves on the board, courtesy of some Motlop individual brilliance at ground level. Josh Mahoney added another one soon after, but the wily veteran Robert Harvey snuffed out any potential comeback with a goal of his own. Gehrig ended the half with a mongrel punt that found its way through the big sticks to give him a deuce, perhaps fitting in a game littered with skill errors by foot.

Port opened the third with Mahoney's second goal to wrest back some momentum, but it was short-lived as yet another error by foot ended up in the hands of Gehrig, who duly booted his third. However, the 2004 Premiers answered back almost instantaneously through Damon White, and further goals to Steven Salopek and Danyle Pearce took them into the final change on a downhill slope, with the margin only seven points with a quarter to play.

A steadier was needed for St Kilda, and Jason Blake provided it, kicking truly from 35 metres to give his side some breathing space as they looked to cramp up the game as much as possible, and it stayed tight until a Kane Cornes goal gave Port some hope. Brett Ebert converted from an angle with only minutes to go, setting the stage for Motlop to be the hero, a role he was unable to fulfill.

Next week, the Saints tackle Richmond at the MCG on Saturday, while Port take on Sydney at AAMI stadium later the same night.

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